“A diagnosis can be a starting point, but it is never a conviction.”

But since the incident happened again later, they decided to go to Alcorcón Hospital, where they conducted several tests. “First, they looked at his retina, and everything was fine. Then it was time for the MRI, and I wasn’t at the tympanum for twenty minutes when the doctor came down to warn me: “Javier, we have a problem, your wife has a ball three and a half centimeters long inside her head and an edema of about four. “We have to work.”

This man couldn’t believe it. “My perfect world began to crumble at that moment, when the cracks in my life began to open. She was 22 weeks pregnant, a time when the fetus had not yet developed. The operation was inevitable because the tumor had spread to the root of the brain and could lead to suffocation. “You can either go well, or stay in the operating room.”

He recalls: “We had to make a decision about the baby: Should we take him out, even though it was still very early, or not? It was my turn, and I decided yes. “This was probably the hardest decision of my life, and I often felt guilty about it, but for me it was a life to save.” Everything changed the day this baby came into the world prematurely with cerebral palsy. Shortly after, the child’s mother died of a tumor. Bergon was 38 years old at the time and was facing a very complicated situation. The doctors told him: “Your son will not walk.” Today he is 17 years old and walks on crutches.

After diagnosis

That phrase was the germ that would determine the birth of “Anda Conmijo.” “We usually think that success can only be built through balance, calm and favorable circumstances, but more often than not, true success is born from chaos. “I was plunged into a very complicated situation,” recalls this entrepreneur. Because when a family is diagnosed — or not even diagnosed yet — their world falls apart. “Suddenly there is fear, guilt, confusion and a huge feeling of loneliness. No one teaches you how to act or who to turn to. “You start a path full of uncertainty, searching for answers from one professional to another, without fully understanding what your child needs or where to start.” He experienced this firsthand with his son Mario. “I went through this experience, that phase of going from one treatment to another, trying to endure everything. The most difficult thing was not the diagnosis, but the lack of support. “The system is not prepared to guide families, and this generates a lot of frustration and exhaustion. The time and cost of treatment are very high for parents with children with disabilities, who feel lonely, confused and exhausted.”

From pain to motivation

Bergon remembers it perfectly turning point. “It was November 27, 2012, the date on which my little son Mario turned four. I was standing in the car, going from therapy to therapy with my son, barely seeing the progress and, above all, thinking that I wasn’t enjoying being a father. I broke down, broke down, and cried. The advantage of being on the ground is that you can’t fall down. “You can only do two things: stay there waiting for something to happen, or get up and make something happen,” he recalls.

This father thought he had to find another way to help his son and his family. This coincided with the fact that the consulting company was at that time undertaking a general restructuring and Bergon said to himself; “Now or never.”

This was the starting point for a therapeutic center for young children that today is the largest network of Spanish-speaking centers specializing in Spanish-speaking children and adolescents with developmental difficulties. “A diagnosis can be a starting point, but never a condemnation,” he concludes.